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Our Vision Knowledge for better livelihoods. Our Mission To strengthen the capacity and policies of African countries and institutions to harness science, technology and innovation for sustainable development. Our Value Proposition To conduct high quality research, policy analysis, capacity strengthening and outreach on applications of science, technolo...
The Nairobi Urban Disaster Risk Hub
Disasters represent one of the greatest threats to humanity, currently and in the future. In the context of urbanization, cities are increasingly becoming hotspots for disasters with over 60% of the world’s population living in urban areas. Resilience of these cities is critical to the livelihoods and sustainability of world’s population. The Nairobi Urban Disaster Risk Hub is part of a larger research project funded by UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund known as the “Tomorrow’s Cities” programme, which is a five year interdisciplinary global research programme where the mission is “to reduce disaster risk for the poor in tomorrow’s cities”. The project works globally to bring multi-hazard disaster risk management to the centre of urban policy and practice and the focus for our research is on four rapidly developing cities: Nairobi, Kathmandu, Istanbul and Quito. In Nairobi, this exciting opportunity brings together leading researchers, community representatives and government leaders to work towards an unprecedented resolution to influence planning and to deliver real impact through interdisciplinary research.
Floods, collapsing buildings, and fires are prevalent hazards in Nairobi. While most parts of the city experiences such disasters in different magnitude, Nairobi’s informal settlements (slums) are major frontiers of these hazards, both natural and human risks owing to a number of compounding reasons. For instance, fires are common phenomenon in slums often emerging from various sources including electrical faults (resulting from poor/illegal electrical infrastructure), poor cooking spaces among others. The main goal for the Nairobi Hub is to provide Nairobi with the capacity and policy framework that enables a shift from crisis/emergency response towards integrated urban development and planning for enhanced disaster risk preparedness and management, through policy relevant and transdisciplinary research. The need for such a transition is recognized at the Nairobi city county government level, reflected among others in the Nairobi Disaster Management Act 2019, which is currently under review.
The Nairobi hub is managed and run by organizations with excellent track records in research, policy and community work:
Specific Objectives of the Nairobi Urban Disaster Risk Hub
Nairobi Hub will adopt a transformative approach that seeks to utilize interdisciplinary research evidence as a tool for convening various stakeholders to achieve the specific objectives listed below;
We are seeking a qualified candidate for the position of a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow: Urban Flood Risk Modelling to engage and support research in the area of urban disaster risk management.
Purpose of the position
This position is aimed at supporting risk analysis and mapping, as well as DRR policy development for the Nairobi City based, on the work articulated under the Nairobi Hub work programme and the Theory of Change. Under the work package 3 (WP3) work plan, the candidate will focus on flood risks within informal settlements of Nairobi, specifically the Mukuru Special Planning Area (SPA), but will also look into the wider Nairobi City County and its environs to contextualize flash floods in the associated catchments. Using state of the art research techniques, the candidate will develop robust flood risk and hazard mapping techniques on Mukuru and assess the potential interventions being proposed as part of the SPA. Additionally, these techniques and maps need to be compatible with other hazard mapping techniques such as fire and earthquake hazard/risk mapping.
The purpose of flood modelling are:
The candidate is also expected to have an appreciation of the fact that an integrated and informed risk management approach requires a clear understanding and presentation of the physical risks which forms part of the holistic narrative of risk that also involves the socio-cultural, political and economic contexts and drivers of risks. Ideally, this candidate is expected to play a fundamental role in facilitating appropriate decision making for the Mukuru SPA to reduce their multi-hazard risk-scape. Additionally, the individual will be expected to support the establishment of a community of practice around disaster risk reduction within Nairobi, and thus will require to be able to make the research outputs accessible through policy briefs and alike.
The key output of WP3 is a quantitative hazards and community risk management planning tool for flood, fire and heat waves in Nairobi City County. The work package brings together flood risk modelling, fire risk modelling and heat wave risk assessment, the latter based on livelihoods and risk profiles developed in WP 1 and WP 2 respectively. The specific task of flood modelling involves selecting and developing appropriate methods to model floods and their magnitudes with specific understanding of the exposure of the inhabitants and to the impacts of floods on the susceptibility for landslides, mud flows, rock falls etc., for the citywide and Mukuru informal settlement specifically.
To apply: Please send
Application letters should have the title of the position as the subject of email, to be sent to hr@acts-net.org with a copy to j.atela@acts-net.org.
Please note the application deadline for this position is 7th Feb 2020.
Interested and qualified? Go to African Centre for Technology Studies on www.acts-net.org to applyBuild your CV for free. Download in different templates.
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